The Seattle Seahawks were not supposed to be good in 2022. They’d traded away Russell Wilson. They shed veteran players toward the end of the 2021 season like they were approaching a rebuild. They lost their top defensive star, safety Jamal Adams, to injury only 15 snaps into the season.
Despite all this, the Seahawks lead the NFC West with a 4-3 record after seven weeks. They’ve carved up erstwhile AFC West contenders like the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos and added fuel to the flame under Kliff Kingsbury’s seat with the Arizona Cardinals. In a wide open NFC, Seattle is primed to return to the playoffs.
The lifeforce behind this surprising start is a longtime backup quarterback and the league’s oldest head coach. Geno Smith has emerged as one of the game’s most efficient passers after making only five starts from 2015 to 2021. Pete Carroll has not only proven the game hasn’t passed him by but that he remains a distinct advantage on the sideline.
On Sunday afternoon, one brief moment explained why this unlikely combination works so well. Facing third-and-five in the third quarter of a 24-14 game, the Seahawks were served a questionable false start penalty when Austin Blythe turned his head to get a signal from Smith. When the play clock wasn’t properly reset, Seattle was forced to burn its first timeout of the half.
This was immensely frustrating for a team on the road on the brink of the kind of drive that could seal an upset. But Carroll knew what his quarterback needed. He made sure he got it.
That clip, brought to my attention by Reddit user Jaded_Attorney, was an insight into Carroll’s relationship with his QB. Smith cooled down, walked back to the huddle and delivered his play call. Then he uncorked a 12-yard strike to Tyler Lockett and got fired up again, but for all the right reasons.
That encapsulates what’s worked so well in Seattle. Carroll believes in his veteran quarterback. Smith believes he just needed an opportunity to shine and is now getting it. By their powers combined the Seahawks, a team most of the NFL world expected to be a run-heavy offense defined by its ground game, have fielded a top five passing offense in terms of total efficiency.
Pete Carroll told Geno Smith to calm down. Smith calmed himself just enough to deliver a clutch third down strike, then ramped back up to finish off a scoring drive in what became a dominant 37-23 win over the Chargers. The Seahawks shouldn’t work this well, but they do.
Now they’re leading the NFC West. It’s thanks in large part to the relationship between coach and quarterback no one outside Seattle thought would be this good in 2022.
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